Businessweek Archives

New Hope For The Hair Impaired

August 16, 1992

Developments to Watch

NEW HOPE FOR THE HAIR-IMPAIRED

Another baldness remedy may be on the horizon. Called Tricomin, it is a peptide-copper combination discovered by ProCyte, a Kirkland (Wash.) biopharmaceutical company that focuses on tissue repair. ProCyte found that Tricomin caused thick hair growth in mice. The company tested 18 balding men in France, where the regulatory process is quicker. Of those getting the strongest dose, 83% grew thicker hair than they had before, with no apparent side effects. A group using a placebo showed no improvement.

ProCyte CEO Joseph Ashley says Tricomin is derived from a naturally occurring compound that triggers the body's tissue-repair mechanism. The remedy won't be approved and available here for at least six years, he says. ProCyte hopes to offer a Tricomin shampoo, targeting 50 million Americans with thinning hair. Upjohn Co.'s Rogaine, or minoxidil, is the only hair-growth drug approved for use in the U.S. M0 claims it's recovering from the shaky start. It is now planning a mid-August event marking the millionth copy of OS/2 2.0 sold. That includes at least 200,000 sent free to users of prior versions, plus the thousands shipped with IBM PS/2s. Still, at this rate, IBM may meet the low end of analysts' projections for 1992--about 2 million copies.EDITED BY GWENDOLYN KELLY